The White House has been given no choice but to take climate change seriously and President Obama has said it will part of his legacy.

White House counselor John D. Podesta told the Washington Post about a day in Feb. where he told the President about a snowpack in California's mountains that had shrunk 86 percent. He said it was a "'Houston, we have a problem' moment."

Since the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its extensive report on climate change, the United Nations environmental group has urged world leaders to take global warming seriously. The report warned that climate change is already making its effects felt and, in the future, could be irreversible.

Cecilia Munoz, the White House's director of the Domestic Policy Council, said Obama has made climate change one of his top priorities. The President's aides even say he raises the topic whether he is speaking with world leaders behind closed doors or when he is spending time with his daughters.

"This is really real for him, in terms of what he's leaving," Munoz told the WP. "This is personal for him."

Obama also makes sure to stay updated on newly published studies relating to climate change, such as one from the National Climate Assessment set to release Tuesday. According to CNN, more than 300 climate experts contributed to the new report, which acts as an update to a similar one from 2009.

"Climate change, once considered an issue for a distant future, has moved firmly into the present," reads the report.

"Americans are noticing changes all around them."

The White House released a statement on the new report calling for immediate action, echoing the IPCC's warnings.

"The findings in this National Climate Assessment underscore the need for urgent action to combat the threats from climate change, protect American citizens and communities today, and build a sustainable future for our kids and grandkids," the statement said.

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